


Dashing in more ways than one

by meet_the_girl_who_can



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Mild Language, Nicky and Joe are so married, POV Third Person, Post-Canon, Professor! Joe, Research Assistant Nile, everyone wants to tap that, the team get their kicks trolling poor mortals just a lil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:09:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meet_the_girl_who_can/pseuds/meet_the_girl_who_can
Summary: Professor Jones is definitely the hottest faculty member any of them have ever seen.He is, in a word, a snack.But the Italian who just interrupted his art history lecture just might give him a run for his money.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 83
Kudos: 1132





	Dashing in more ways than one

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of fluffy domestic crack while the team is undercover. Set at an unknown English university because that's all I know. Please forgive an inaccuracies about Art History courses, I've no idea on that front.

Robin sighs as she watches Professor Jones enter through the side door at the bottom of the lecture theatre. She’s not the only one. Jones – _Joe_ \- is a real favourite in the Art History faculty because well:

a) He’s hot; all broad-chested, beautiful curls and kind, laughing eyes with wonderful hands, long artistic fingers

Robin thinks a lot about his hands and what they can do. _All_ the things they can do.

Where was she…oh, yeah

b) He’s incredibly well-read, just generally talented and smart. A real Renaissance man. Carlo looked up a really obscure, fucking ends of the Earth, the campus library had to request an inter-library loan of a loan of a loan that wasn’t even really anything to do with his dissertation just to see if he could impress Jones with previously un-discussed sources and depth of research but _Jones had indeed already read it_

“And I swear, Robin, like no-one had checked that article out since the twenties as far as the records said, I thought I was in with a winner for the winner, ugh”

And c) his laugh has no right to be that sexy. No part of any person breathing has any right to be that sexy, let alone have all the parts being sexy together.

Robin doesn’t know anyone who doesn’t want to well and truly jump his bones.   
  
The man is unfairly attractive okay? All over. What with the whole, tall, dark and handsome thing he’s got going on; the lopsided grin when a student makes a particularly brilliant point, the way his intellect is as sharp as his cheekbones, or how the adorable way he gestures when he talks which is doubly distracting given the flex of his muscles underneath his shirts. The fact that according to his staff profile, he’s roughly late twenties to early thirties has not helped matters in the utterly jumpable department.

He is, in a word, a snack. 

It’s a whole 'Indiana Jones’ archaeology class fluttering their eyelashes at him' gig. For fuck’s sake the guy’s name is even Jones. 

So yeah, Jones is pretty much desired on all quarters but like, no one knows if he’s available or even attainable, because he’s mentioned such a string of people in the three months that he’s been teaching here. He talks about Nicky the most, but there’s also Andy and Quynh and Nile, even a Booker. But that might be an ex because every time he comes up in an anecdote the lightness in Joe’s eyes dies and his smile withers after a second and he winds up the story pretty quickly after that.

But even then, there’s such a love and obvious affection there for all of those people that Robin knows they haven’t gotten a hope in hell of becoming even a notch on the bedpost.

So they all just pine from afar and interrogate his research assistant Aqua Waters - and she’s equally as beautiful and all the beautiful people in the world are clearly destined to find each other, it’s a conspiracy, Robin knows it is- as much as possible but she always shrugs and says she knows as much as the rest of them.

  
It’s a drizzly Thursday, which might explain the hoodie Professor Jones is wearing under his leather jacket, although Aqua is carrying a dripping umbrella in one hand. They’re laughing and then Jones’ eyebrows furrow and he twists round to his back before dismissing it and clicking on the lectern’s microphone “-I think this might actually be Nicky’s hoodie. Oh well,” and he winks at Aqua, gesturing for her to take her typical seat in the front row. “right, good morning everyone, I hope you’ve all had a good weekend.”

He's certainly had a good morning too, from the look of him, standing there bold as brass, looking delicious and well fucked in his fuck buddy’s clothes no less. It must have been good and oh God, now Robin has to go home to her lonely ass bed knowing what Professor Jones's sex hair looks like.

“So, today we’re going to be talking about _Jerusalem Delivered,_ its popularity with artists, and the representation of Muslims and Christians.” Jones loads up the screen and clicks the remote to the first slide which is a whole screen of two people in full medieval armour on horseback. Sitting in the front, Aqua chokes and it sounds like she’s trying not to laugh, which weird, but she settles herself under Jones’ raised eyebrow and he carries on talking.

“So these are two of the main characters of the poem. It's called _Clorinda attacks Tancredi_ , which he didn't really deserve, but honestly, I'm not sure he thought chivalry and a banner was going to work, I mean they were sacking a city, there was hardly a code of honour from those pillaging bastards, anyway –“

Robin settles into her seat between Eve and Bea, ready for two hours of concentrating on art and not the rich baritone of Professor Jones’ voice, when the door to the lecture hall bangs behind someone obviously, horrifyingly late.  
  
Of course, everyone immediately turns to look, especially given how Jones has fallen silent. Standing by the doorway is a man, tall and slim and _gorgeous_ , longish light brown hair tucked behind his ears, tanned skin, and strong-featured. He’s wearing jeans and slightly clunky boots with a soft blue t-shirt that doesn’t look like it fits properly.

The effect is a little undone by the way he’s balancing several books under one arm with two Starbucks coffee tumblers and a lunch box (shit seriously, talk about the cliché) somehow miraculously upright.

The guy’s face cracks, surprisingly, into a full-bodied grin, and he dashes down the steps that run alongside the hall’s seats to come to a graceful stop right in front of Jones, not giving a fuck that he’s interrupted the lecture and stopped Jones mid-sentence. Leans across. Presses a **kiss** , to Jones' **jaw,** like he _owns the place._ Jones smiles, Robin can fucking see it from this distance, which means it’s a full-on megawatt grin, as the other man shoves the Starbucks and Tupperware into Jones’ hands.

“Hi” he murmurs, the syllables caught by the microphone, voice lilting and accented. He sounds Italian. Oh god, beautiful people really are destined to find one another. “You forgot your lunch when you dashed out this morning”

Jones was almost late! The idea of him, dark eyes heavy with sleep, stumbling out of bedsheets, pulling a shirt over his muscled chest -

“So I thought I’d bring it in and embarrass you in the process” he smiles, a wry, barely-there twist of the lips.

“More like tease me” Jones murmurs, fingers reaching out to catch at the hem of the man’s t-shirt, “Hayati, we both know I’m the embarrassing one in this relationship.”

“Incurable romantic” the man corrects.

Off to the side, Aqua coughs pointedly and the two of them jump. Bubble popped.

Evidently realising about a hundred-odd people are watching them, they step apart, soft smiles, and are they – they’re blushing!

“Everyone this is my husband, Nicolò”

Nicolò grins sweetly in acknowledgement, not the least perturbed. He looks to be enjoying himself. “Hello everyone. I’m Nicky” he waves at the class enthusiastically, and some people, Robin included, wave back because how are they supposed to hate his guts now?!

He’s _adorable._

Jones knows it too, eyes fixed on his husband, **_husband_** , beautiful Italian husband, not fuck buddy, which means all the other regular names are probably family. Or they have a _very_ open relationship but that’s probably wishful thinking. Because Jones is radiant, eyes crinkling and he looks impossibly young, his focus entirely on Nicky. Even from this short distance, Robin can see the way he’s looking at Nicky like…like he’s everything.

Meanwhile, Nicky’s caught sight of the screen and he obviously recognises the picture of Clorinda and Tancred because he snorts and throws his head back, exposing the elegant column of his neck as he laughs.

“Oh habibi, _no._ Joe, you are a holy terror.” He looks back at Jones, and they don’t say anything else, don’t touch but they don’t have to. It’s a look filled with such love and understanding and there’s a story there that Jones has never mentioned and it feels wrong to be gawking at them. Robin’s eyes drop to the tabletop.

“Go back to teaching these bright young minds. I’ve distracted you long enough, I think.” When Robin looks back up, Aqua's secured one of the coffee cups and Jones has obviously directed Nicky out the other way. Nicky's now standing by the door at the bottom of the theatre that Jones had entered through. It’s a more direct route off-campus, towards the car park.

There's another long look between them and Nicky disappears through the door. Jones waits until the door closes behind the other man before he turns back around, his gaze flicking back up to the students and he smiles dreamily. 

“That was Nicky. Now, where were we? Ah, Tancred and Clorinda, yes so –“

Robin feels Bea swatting furiously at her arm. 

“I know, I know, hang on, I’m googling what ‘Hayati’ means”

**Author's Note:**

> A missing scene because I couldn't think where it would go but forgive me Nile for the alias: 
> 
> "Aqua Waters?" Professor Williams stares at the young woman, "I hope you gave your parents hell for that" he says before he can stop himself, aware its hardly professional. But Aqua just smiles, thin and wry and glances over to where Professor Jones is wrapped up in conversation with his husband
> 
> "Yeah. To be honest, I think about murdering them daily"
> 
> Jones must feel her eyes on him because he looks over and winks. 
> 
> She sticks her tongue out at him
> 
> ****  
> The painting of Tancred and Clorinda is this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clorinda_(Jerusalem_Delivered)#/media/File:Finoglio_jerusalem_1.JPG
> 
> Which is part of Nicky and Joe's sections on Copley's board, hence Nile and Nicky's exasperation at Joe's terrible sense of humour.  
> Clorinda is purely fictional but Tancred, Prince of Galilee was a real person and part of the first Crusade - so maybe the painting of Nicky and Joe was mis-identified or it was them modelling for that painting, (Idk). Anyway, Tancred did try to save civilians sheltering in the temple of Solomon by giving them his banner so they could claim his protection but when he came back they'd been massacred and he was massively pissed off by this, which is what Joe starts reminiscing about.
> 
> Also Nicky is absolutely wearing Joe's t-shirt
> 
> I always love hearing from people if you’d like to, either here or my tumblr url is @meet-the-girl-who-can if you want to come say hi!


End file.
